Page 89 of Breathe
Panic filled him. Azrael was out of his sight. He didn’t let the crushing fear paralyze him as men came out of nowhere, but then so did Genesis. Knives flashed, silencers snicked in the noisy chaos, and the hand-to-hand combat took on a savagery born from protecting their own.
It was a short fight after that, but a brutal one, and Real knew that when the dust settled, only the lucky would walk away.
“Riiiiiip!” The anguished cry from Boston sang through the air.
“Real!” Azrael’s rage-filled voice traveled through the air and punched Real in the gut.
Neither of the young assassins were visible through the black smoke of the explosion, and with his back to Rip, Real fought his way in the direction of Azrael’s voice.
A shatter of glass in the distance had fear lending him strength, and he shot and sliced and diced his way through bodies. Firing with the gun in his right hand and stabbing with his knife in his left.
Up ahead, Azrael, along with Boston, were being hoisted through a broken window.
“Fuck!” Rip snarled, moving like quicksilver, Rip worked the same as he did. Knife in one hand and now a gun in the other.
When they ran out of bullets, they both switched to dual knives.
Genesis soldiers at their sides pressed in, fighting alongside them.
Real stabbed a perp in the throat and dropped low to slice open the artery in the man’s leg. When the guy dropped, Real snatched up the guy’s gun and fired it in the direction of the window.
His aim was precise. He never missed, at least when it counted.
Bodies dropped, piling on each other when each of his bullets hit their mark. He only stopped when he feared hitting Azrael or Boston.
By that time, he was almost there.
What he hadn’t realized was that after the first call of their names, both Azrael and Boston had turned on their attackers.
And Real watched, amazed when his love took out three perps before Real could even get close enough.
Azrael stood breathing hard when Real drew close, and he snatched the man into his arms with a pounding heart.
“You called my name,” he muttered into the young man’s hair, burying his face in Azrael’s neck.
“Yeah, I thought I might have needed backup,” Azrael said with a huffing snort. “But I didn’t.”
Real could help it, he chuckled.
Cleaning up at the compound took several hours.
Most of the perps inside were dead, and the ones that weren’t were in cuffs. Others, although only a few, had escaped.
The good news was that all of the victims inside of the structure had been rescued and Micky was in Viper’s custody.
They decided to torch the place since the bomb had destroyed most of the inside and caved in one wall on the west side. The property around the compound was cleared, and the woods were wet from the pouring rain, so no potential for fire.
A few of Genesis stayed behind to watch the flames, as well as he and Azrael.
After the flames died down and the fire department arrived, they walked away. There wasn’t anything more they could do.
The good news was twofold. The compound was toast, and Micky had been apprehended. He’d call that a win.
On their way back to the ranch, they found out that Stone had a bullet punch through his upper shoulder, just above the collar of his vest. The bullet had been a through-and-through, and the man was now out of surgery.
It was cause for celebration.
And even though it was late, most of them, along with Real and Azrael, stopped to see Stone at the hospital. The medical center wasn’t far from the compound, and the charge nursedidn’t argue about it being after visiting hours. She took one look at the big, muscled group of testosterone and smiled.
